8 Month Letter

Dear Aidan,

Oh geez, boy. You have mommy busy! Even now I'm writing your letter 2 weeks late. Soon I'll be composing your 9 month letter!

You are still the light of my life. I can't think of any saying to describe it, other than that. You absolutely radiate love every single time I come home from work, and every time you see your father. You've gained a long laundry list of things you do, and do well.

• crawling, real, fast, full on crawling
• pulling up to stand on anything you can get your hands on
• eating more and more table food. you are a ninja and grab things off of our plates without us noticing until we see you chewing!
• saying Mama now, but only occasionally and not really directed at me
• you point at what you want
• you reach out to people for a hug
• eating between 32-40oz a day plus 3 meals of solids (which I'm about to up the solids some, you've been out-eating my servings for a while but I just now noticed)
• you're starting to "dance" when you hear music you like, you semi-jump and wiggle your whole body

As you can see you're growing in leaps and bounds. You're everything I ever dreamed I would have in a son. Keep on being amazing, it helps mommy through rough days.

Love Always,

Your Momma

My Apologies

I'm so sorry for not blogging a lot lately. I'm really trying to work on it. Things just got a bit overwhelming there for a while. We were all sick, work got busy which took it's toll on my moods, and Aidan is teething and starting seperation anxiety (even with me sitting right there, he wants constant attention it seems like!). Time on the computer at home has been limited to say the least.

Oh well, things have smoothed out some so I'm back in the game.

Updates on Aidan:

• 7.5 months.
• 2 bottom teeth, 2 top teeth pending (they are visible through the gums but not yet broken through)
• army crawls like a pro
• gets on hands and knees and hangs out, rocks back and forth a lot
• loves to stand now. on the couch holding onto the back, on the floor holding onto the cushion, on our laps holding onto our shoulders, etc
• loves to jump on people, not so much in his jumperoo. he will happily sit on our laps and kick his legs for an hour, easy, making himself bounce up and down
• still eats like a champ. 40oz of formula a day plus 2-3 solids a day
• sleep is still good.. usually 12 hours a night.
• bedtimes are getting rough though with teething + seperation anxiety. he has a big issue when i lay him down and then leave the room! we're working on it though.
• he gives big huge belly laughs now when he gets excited. he also FINALLY is starting to take interest in holding his own bottle. I still feed him but afterwards I let him play with it and he can now hold it up on his own and suck.

Adventures In Teething

Oh good lord Aidan is teething his top 2 teeth, at the same time. Last night in our house around 6:30pm the world ended.

He was rubbing his eyes, obviously tired. I fed him his bottle at 6:30 to prepare to bedtime at 7. Screaming insued so I laid him down closer to 6:30 than 7. Hysterical screaming. Not good. I'm game with letting him fuss lightly for 5-10 minutes because it will always fall asleep, but this.. this was full on "oh my god I'm dying" screaming. I got him right back up. Bounce, rock, play.. screaming through the whole thing. He looks like he has two peas shoved in his upper gums, they are super painfully swollen.

He wouldn't take a teether, and wouldn't calm down. Motrin, here we come! Gave him a dose and held/bounced/walked around for 30 minutes to let it take effect. Tried to lay him down again. Hysterical screaming.

Got him back up, gave him 2 teething tablets. He calmed down for about, oh, 30 seconds. Hysterical screaming in my arms. Took him outside to walk around, he was quiet outside but still groaning and rubbing his eyes. After about 20 minutes tried to lay him down again. Hysterical screaming. (Are you seeing where this is going yet?)

Got him up again. Rubbed some baby orajel on his top gums. He proceeded to make all sorts of funny faces, and even cracked a smile at one point. But 10 minutes later, hysterical screaming. At this point I will not lie. I was so distraught I had tears in my eyes. My child NEVER behaves this way. I could see in his face how miserable he was and all I wanted was to make him feel better but nothing was working! Poor little butt was clinging to me so tightly I could have let go and he would still be hanging there.

I ended up bounce/swaying in a circle (directly in a circle, like a carosel) for 20 minutes while he nodded off slowly. At this point it was 9. I was shot. He was shot. The cats were so far in hiding I wouldn't be surprised if they were in another country. Mike was sitting on the couch cheering me on giving me updates on if his eyes were closed everytime I turned to where he could see him. After 20 minutes he was asleep... My arms were numb and my back ached. But by God the child was ASLEEP! I laid him down, and he slept through the night. Now I'm praying that those two teeth come through today.

Now some pictures, he's 7.5 months now. Sitting on his own (but he prefers not to). Up on his knees rocking all the time. Army crawling like a pro. LOVES to stand, he is even trying to let go of the couch/chair/hands/etc to try it on his own.. and can do it for a few seconds before falling into a happy, giggly pile. Usually a very happy, smiley baby!

Thankful On Thursday

Today I'm thankful for many things.

1) Aidan army crawling all around. It makes things so much more fun to see him more mobile and getting into things!

2) My best friend having a healthy, perfect little baby. Maxine Ember was born 6/16 at 5:24pm 7lb 9oz and 19 3/4" long.

3)Aidan napping longer and more regularly now that he's scooting all around. All the activty wears him out and the extra napping helps keep him happy.

4) Mike, so working hard and helping to provide our family with what we need.

Photo Update

6 Month Letter

Dear Aidan,

You're now 6 months 2 weeks, technically. But mommy has been too busy being sick and loving on you to write this until now! This past month has been great for the most part.

You had your first illness. You contracted a virus somehow and had diarrhea for over a week. It was horrible! You even had fevers. After a visit to the pediatrician we amped you up with pedialyte and infant motrin and we made it through. A few days later daddy got sick with fevers and a sore throat. He was ill for a week. The mommy got sick with the same thing. The daddy got sick again for 2 weeks. Then mommy for another week. And now daddy has the same thing yet again. THANK GOODNESS you managed to avoid our illnesses. We can't complain because the entire time we were/are sick you were such an angel baby. Giving us plenty of hugs and playing independently quietly so we could lounge on the couch in misery.

You are still working on sitting up. You can do it, but most of the time you choose not to. Youare definitely army scrawling now. We have a 4'x6' rug and you scoot all over it and even off of it. Your new favorite thing is to scoot your toys to the edge of the rug by the couch and shove them under it. Then try to crawl under the couch to get them. It's quite adorable but mommy is getting rug burn from trying to reach under the couch all the time to retrieve your toys!

You eat solids foods now 3 times a day. And you are even expirimenting with stage 3 foods. You're loving the added textures and flavors! You're still in size 3 diapers, but you now we 9 months clothes and 12 month clothes!!

Our love for you has grown so much lately. You laugh at everything and get the biggest smile when you first see us in the mornings. I never knew how much it was possible to love a small child who can't even walk, feed themselves, dress themselves, talk, etc. You have SUCH an amazing personality. You never meet a stranger. On my darkest days a simple smile and you huggin me tight as I hold you makes it all better. You are the definition of love and I can't believe we made you. Keep on growing, scooter-butt, and remember mommy and daddy will always love you more than you know.

Love Always,
Mommy

Wordless Wednesday

Happy Memorial Day Everyone!